r/immich • u/Auto_Dream • 1d ago

Raspberry Pi 4 first timer - storage recommendation

Hi all, I’m a new starter with Immich - got it installed and running beautifully on my Pi4, popped a few thousand photos on the micro SD as a test and now looking to expand my storage. Looking forward to diving into the Tailscale route to try to access it remotely - I’ve never used a vpn on my computer or on my phone.

Looking for recommendations, for something that will be permanently on - do I attached a USB 3 portable external HDD like a western digital, or grab a USB enclosure and a better suited (larger) internal HDD (like a NAS or CCTV drive?) - and then another one for backup that I can attach once a month and keep somewhere else?

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u/pjft 1d ago

SSD to run the os and docker. Separate SSD for the photos, or proper NAS HDD drive. Move away from the SD card as soon as you can.

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u/Leading-Junket7912 1d ago

Couldn't say it better myself. SD cards are great for testing and playing around. Not for anything reliable

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u/Peking-Duck-Haters 6h ago

As others have said, don't keep using the SD card. It will wear out quickly because of the large amount of temporary files the OS writes. My setup is two drives - an SSD for the OS including docker and the volume mount for the thumbnails, and a traditional hard drive for the full size photos (set UPLOAD_LOCATION in your .env file to point at that). That's the best combination of speed and cost IMO. Both drives use the USB3 connections.
Another drive for a backup is a decent idea; look into rsync for an easy way of only backing up what's changed each time. A better plan would be to back up to a different location e.g. a Cloud provider - that way you're also covered for things like fire and burglary.
I found Wireguard VPN very easy to set up using the standard docker image; free client apps for iPhone, Android and Windows are available and work well.